Pliers for cutting and stretching wire



(No Model.)

J. W. OVERSTREET.

PLIERS FOR CUTTING AND STRETGHING WIRE.

Patented Nov. 1, 1887.

'll I Nrrnn STATES JOHN WVJOVERSTREET, OF L PATENT F FICEQ ITTLETIIOKlVIA N, KENTUCKY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,560, dated November1, 1887.

Application filed July 14, 1887.

T0 (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. OVERSTREET,-

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Little Hickman, in thecounty of Jessamine and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Pliers for Cutting and Stretching Wire; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, andin which- Figure 1 is a side view of my new and im proved pliers forcutting and stretching wire. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same,and Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the halves or parts of the pliers.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention consists in a new and improved pliers, which is moreespecially designed for use in the construction of wire fences instretching the wires from post to post and securing the same to oraround the posts, in stretching the wires and securing them around postsand rails of fences in constructing various patent fences, my new andimproved pliers being constructed to cut wires of varying diameters, foruse as a tackhannner, and also as a wrench, and my invention will behereinafter fully described and claimed.

Referring to the several parts by letter, A and 13 indicate the twohalves or parts of my new and improved pliers. the said parts beingalike in construction, so that they can be cast in one mold, and eachpart being formed with the handle 0, the precise shape and curvature ofwhich may be altered without departing in the least from the spirit ofmy invention, the central circular part, D, which is recessed on Whatmay be called its inner side, so thatit is only one-half as thick as theremainder of the part orhalfland thejaw E,which is curved in nearly asemicircle, as shown.

Thetwo parts or halves of the pliers are socured together at theirrecessed central parts, with the said recessed circular central sides oftheir central parts fitting in one another, and are riveted together bythe central bolt or Serial No. 534L253. (No model.)

central reduced parts, as shown, so that the central overlapping partsof the sections A and B are only as thick through as the single handlesor jaws, owing to the said central circular parts being only one-half asthick as the other parts.

The central circular parts, D D, of the two sections or halves A and Bof the pliers are formed with the cutter-recesses G G, which I haveshown formed in four pairs between the handles,between the jaws,and oneach side of the circular central parts, as shown, although the cutterson the sides maybe dispensed with, if preferred; or those may be formedand the cutters between the jaws and between the handles may bedispensed with; or more or fewer cutter-recesses may be formed, asdesired. These pairs of cutter-recesses in the central parts,D D,arearranged so that the two which constitute each pair register with eachother thereof are opened,when the wire to be cut is placed in the tworegistering-recesses, and by pressing the handles together the edges ofthe cutter-recesses will sever the wire, so that I can cut up to a No. 8wire readily, the cutter-recesscs being of graded sizes, so as toreceive and cut wires of different diameters.

The outer free ends of the jaws E E are formed with serrations H ontheir straight meeting faces,to enable them to grip the wire firmlyandto prevent the wire from slipping as it is being stretched from post topost. These grip-jaws H H may be formed either long or short, bread ornarrow, as preferred, and according to the character ol'the work to bedone.

On each side of the grip-jaws are formcd,on the outer side of the mainjaws E, the projections I I, which act as braces, and theseprojectionsmay be made either long or short. Their operation will be hereinafterdescribed. One of these jaws may be provided with a small hammerhead-J,(shown in dotted lines,) near the projection I. Of course when thehammer-head is added the parts of the device cannot be both cast in thesame mold,as above described.

1n operation the wire to be stretched is seized between the serratedgripjaws of the pliers, and can then be readily stretchedberivet,F,passing through the centers of the said I when the jaws of thepliers and the handles tween two or three posts at a time, theprojections I I being brought into play when twisting a wire aroundposts and stretching the same so as to pull the wire tight and make it 5out into the wood to prevent slipping,the wire being drawn around thepost by the pliers and twisted, when one of the said projections isbrought into contact with the post,and it will be readily seen will actas a brace or fulcrum [o to draw the wire still tighter, so that it willcut into the wood, and will also prevent the pliers from giving orslipping under the strain of the taut wire. The cutters are used forcutting wire of different diameter and are very [5 effective. The hammercan be used as a tackhammer or for hammering wire, &c.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, operation, and advantages of 20myinventionwillbercadilyunderstood. Itwil'l be seen that my new andimproved pliers are simple and strong in construction,can bemanufactured at a small cost, and are exceedingly effective inoperation. They can be manu- 25 factured of different sizes and with thevarious small changes described without departing in the least from thespirit of myinvention. Be-

sides the purposes or uses before specified,my

new and improved pliers can be used as a wrench, as will be readilyunderstood. 30

Having thus described my i-nvention,what I claim,and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

The herein described pliers, consisting of two pieces alike inconstruction and pivotally 5 secured together near one end,each piecehaving a handle portion, 0, a curved jaw portion,

E, and a circular reduced portion, D, said reduced portions beingprovided with recesses G G, and the outer end of each jaw portion 0having a serrated face, H, and provided with a projection, I,-upon itsouter side, substanti-ally as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as JOHN W. OVERSTREET.

Witnesses:

\V. B. SMITH, A. B. DUNCAN.

